I imagine that any view you have on ‘Seleção’ (the Brazilian National Team) would depend on how old you were when you first saw them play. ‘Boomers’ like my dad’s generation would rave about the teams of 1958 and 1962, led by the all-scoring Pelé. My brothers’ would have seen the 1980s teams with mavericks like Sócrates fail against more streetwise European sides. Whereas me, being notably younger than my siblings, would have first enjoyed watching the successes of the 1990s and early 2000s sides. A more recent generation of football fans would have seen Brazil for the first time as a team lacking experience, cunning and capitulations on the most epic of scales. However, despite the contrasting fortunes of the Brazilian national team three common themes are usually present:

Improvisation and creativity - Brazil has always valued individual flair over rigid systems. Whilst recent Brazil teams have been more pragmatic and defensively organised, the classic traits of improvisation are never far to be found.
Attacking Full Backs/Wing Backs - Brazil like their Wing Backs to advance high up the pitch, overlap, and often act like extra wingers in attack. Nílton Santos in the 1950s revolutionised the full-back position and since then there have been too many to name in this blog. But three of my favourites are well known: Cafu, Roberto Carlos and Dani Alves.
Technical mastery - the street and futsal influences within Brazil’s youth pathway mean that players are comfortable when receiving, turning, and passing under pressure.

A common formation, allowing Brazilian players to do all of that, has been the 4222. It is often dubbed the ‘Brazilian Box’ or ‘Magic Box’ and has been used extensively throughout football over the years. This post is not a direct translation of a particular 4222 system in time, or a replication of a particular manager's philosophy…rather it is me taking the bits I think make Brazil football what it is and adding it to my Shimizu S-Pulse side for the second season in FM26.

Firstly, here’s a quick three-part Q&A with myself that is a quick way to get up to speed as to why I am changing tactics this early into a save…

Question 1: Why change a title winning tactic for something untried and untested?

It’s true, Shimizu were the No.1 team in the J1 league last season…topping a lot of metrics and playing some great football. However, we cannot stand still. The 4231 was built around two MVPs (Takashi Inui - a playmaker and Capixaba - a winger) who have decided to leave on Free Transfers. Whilst I could find similar players, would those players signed live up to what the previous two did for S-Pulse last time out?

Question 2: Shimizu will play in the 2026 Asian Champions League, is changing now a risky move?

Yes. It will be interesting to see how I fare in this competition…however the Asian Champions League is not until the end of the calendar year. Due to a league restructure (with the J1 now delayed to start until August 2026), a special J1 tournament fills the formative months of the year. It is the perfect time to try out a new system, without any domestic cup or J1 games intertwined, and get everybody familiar with this before the Asian Champions League.

Question3: Were you always going to change to a 4222 tactic?

Yep. Even if Takashi Inu and Capixaba signed deals to stay this season…eventually I would have phased out wider players and recruited players to suit a more narrow 4222. Afterall, I am focusing on signing Brazilians in this save. It would be rude not to try a form of 4222 on the new FM26 engine.

The 4222 tactic

Key differences with my 4231: Firstly, let’s look at a high level of what the previous 4231 was all about: Direct long-ball counter attacks with lots of dribbles (you can read about that here). You may have differing views when reading this (again with whichever lens your first experience of watching Seleção was), but those traits I just mentioned are not Brazilian. Whilst Brazilians can clearly dribble…they have often been a ‘pass first’ team. So, the only frequent dribblers in the 4222 will be my Wing Backs. I would even say that the Direct Counter Attack needs to change too, I would like my Brazilian side to progress with more calmness and exert more control on the game.

Team Instructions: Usually I introduce the Player Roles first, but I thought I would treat this post differently and summarise the style of football first. I have already given detail above of some of the key flavours of football, but here are the instructions in their entirety. Note - my starting Mentality is Balanced (and I rarely change it).

Now the purists would come and tell me that Creative Freedom ought to be maxed out, a reminder that this is not a total replication. But the samba in this tactic is best shown in the Progression. I want to move my team forward, and to do that I have instructed the team to progress through the middle, play into feet and encourage underlapping runs on each side of the pitch. Out of possession we are very aggressive. We will regroup and get back into a disciplined 442/451 shape as soon as reasonably possible, but we will press like rabid animals and get stuck in with tackles when the opportunity arises.

Player Roles: Now to the fun part: the roles! The 4222 can be grouped into four outfield sections…Defenders, Wing Backs, Playmakers and Strikers:

**Note** - When out of possession the AP and the SS become left/right sided midfielders respectively to form 442.

Three Defenders - in real-life I am currently infatuated with Martín Zubimendi and the way he slots into the Arsenal backline when in possession and the knock-on benefits that has brought to the team. Those benefits are that it allows the centre-backs to position themselves wider and also pushes the full backs forward. In my 4222 this is crucial too…with the Half Back slotting into the back three (as a left sided CB), the Wing Backs then have licence to move forward and offer the width needed further upfield. If we go back to the Brazil team I used to watch as a teenager…I remember Centre Back/Defensive Midfielder hybrid Edmilson in World Cup 2002 doing something similar, which allowed Roberto Carlos and Cafu to effectively play as wingers for Brazil.

Two Wing Backs - There is no need for ‘Advanced Wing Backs’...standard ones will suffice. The ‘three at the back’ security is there and the higher lines of engagement out of possession will move them up to play predominantly in the opponent’s half. I need guys who are good in the 1v1 (Dribbling) and have an end product to their game (Crossing). I have Player Instructions added to increase the frequency of their dribbling, apart from that it is very simple.

Two Playmakers - Usually I only have one playmaker in my side, but to enhance the central play I have a Deep Lying Playmaker at DM and an Advance Playmaker between the lines at AM. These are two ball magnets, one for the build up + progression and one for the final third. I have positioned them diagonally from one another (one left side and one right) in order to provide distance for both to flourish.

Three Strikers - I am ultra-attacking here with three goal-threat strikers. But my reasoning is that one of those strikers (Shadow Striker) resets into a wide position when out of possession. This means he will be somewhere between the two areas during a transition. When our build up is paced right, he will move into the striker position with the Channel Forward often making wider runs out wide (see example goal further on in this post). I see great interchanges between the two roles here, whilst the Centre Forward remains a constant goal threat and a focal point of the attack.

2026 Shimizu S-Pulse New Signings

I have outlined my approach to recruitment in a previous post (read here), and the good news is that it is going well. There have been plenty of Brazilians signed and the relaxed restrictions from 2026 mean I have near limitless opportunities to sign and field foreign players (maximum squad size of 99 + no restrictions on how many are fielded in a match day squad). In total 16 players were signed and 11 of them are Brazilians (that’s 69% lads). All signings have been recruited with the 4222 in mind, so there has been a focus on Wing Backs and also players capable of playing DM and AM. I will not go through every player signed, but I will take a selection of seven recruited players from the above split of (Defenders, Half Backs, Wing Backs, Playmakers and Strikers).

Defenders - Roger Ibañez (Free) + Erick Noriega (Loan to buy)

The Marquee signing of 2026 is undoubtedly Roger Ibañez, who joins on a Free Transfer after a two-year stay in Saudi Arabia with Al-Ahli. ‘Mad Dog Rog’ becomes our highest earner and is the only one special enough for ‘Star Player’ squad status. I remember this guy kicking people in Serie A and I look forward to him adding a bit of steel to our defence. Alongside him is Erick Noriega who will be the No.1 Half-Back in our new-look 4222. He appeared in a Brazilian Serie B Recruitment Focus, and agreed to re-join Shimizu for €3.3m after an 18-month loan. The eagled eyed reader(s) will notice I wrote re-join there…because incredibly Erick is a Shimizu S-Pulse homegrown player (being born in Japan and playing in various Shimizu youth squads between 2017-2022)…something I did not know until he appeared in my recruitment focus. A wonderful, and surprising, homecoming.

Wing Backs - Saidazamat Mirsaidov (€550k) + Wesley Gasolina (Free Transfer)

€550k was spent bringing Uzbek Saidazamat Mirsaidov to Japan. He hugs the line and likes it played into his feet, more than enough justification for making him my first choice right sided Wing Back. His deputy is Wesley Gasolina, who was discarded from the Brazilian Second Division having been released by Athletic Club (Minas Gerais). A huge part of my recruitment at Shimizu S-Pulse is to give emerging talents overlooked by Europe, and within Brazil itself, another chance. Gasolina is a good example of this, he is relatively average in places but he is good off the ball, can dribble and cross.

Playmaker - Yuri Leles (Loan)

Yuri Leles appeared in a Recruitment Focus with a strong scout report. Red Bull Bragantino were agreeable to a loan that means he returns to them as a 20-year-old in June 2027. Their only insistence was that Yuri plays AMC, so that’s where he will play most of the time: as our new Advanced Playmaker. I quickly saw on his debut (where he made two great assists) Vs Kobe that he will be a special player for Shimizu S-Pulse over the next year.

Strikers - Damián Bobadilla (Free) + Ado Onaiwu (Loan with option to buy)

Damián Bobadilla is another marquee signing, a full International already with Paraguay…he leaves Brazil Serie A for Shimizu S-Pulse and has a big wage. His versatility is his biggest strength, he can play as the Deep Lying Playmaker or the Advanced Playmaker…but most of the time he has been our Shadow Striker. His traits of ‘getting into the opposition area’ and ‘gets forward whenever possible’ complement the role well. It is therefore no surprise that he finished as our 2nd highest top scorer within the J1 Special Tournament with 8 goals.

The side’s top scorer however was Japanese international Ado Onaiwu, who joined on loan from FC Magdeburg in Germany thanks to an Agent Offer in the Recruitment area of FM26. Ado Onaiwu has been a lethal Channel Forward for us, contributing to ten goals in 18 games. There is a €1m optional deal agreed as part of the loan and I think I would be a fool not to sign Ado permanently.

2026 ‘J1 Special Tournament’

The season started brightly with a 6-2 Super Cup trophy win Vs last season’s Emperor's Cup winners Yokohama FC 🏆 The 4222 then continued strongly with 11 wins in the J1 Special Tournament, where the top league has split into two groups of ten clubs. I was not sure what would happen after winning the group, but it turns out that each team plays their opposite ranked team in the other group (1st Vs 1st, 2nd Vs 2nd etc). It hardly seemed a good reward for topping the group…however the resulting 6-5 two-legged victory Vs Group B Winners Kashiwa meant we had won another trophy (and the third of the save)! The special tournament ended with the 19th and 20th game 🏆

How did the tactic perform?

We did not top as many of the attacking metrics compared to last season’s 4231. However we can take a lot of comfort seeing us top the ‘Chances Created’ metric with 88 over the twenty games (4.4 per 90). The 4222 is highly successful from a defensive viewpoint though. Shimizu S-Pulse were undoubtedly the best defence in those twenty games with 21 goals conceded in 20 games (1.05 per 90), and the side had the ‘Fewest Final Third Passes' against with 77 in 20 games (3.85 per 90). The aggressive press and telling the players to ‘get stuck in’ meant we also topped the ‘Fouls’ table with 231 over the twenty games (11.55 per 90) 🔥

The J1 League Special Tournament is the third trophy of the save so far.

My favourite goals from the 4222 came in the same game, Vs Yokohama FC in the J1 Special Tournament league stage. Succulent interplay…

Season’s Greetings

This is most likely my 5th and final blog post of 2025, so it’s time for me to wish you a Happy Christmas and great New Year! Reminder to readers that a new FM26 patch arrives sometime within the first two weeks of December, so get that in your festive download queue via Steam Public Beta Track! 🎁

Thank you for reading/sharing and caring. See you next year.

Tony / FM Grasshopper